Can I Save to DNG File in PS CS4?

I don't know what I'm missing but whenever i click SAVE AS in Photoshop CS4, there is no choice of DNG in the file format.

Please help......

cyrillo07 wrote in post #9262987
I don't know what I'm missing but whenever i click SAVE AS in Photoshop CS4, there is no choice of DNG in the file format.

Please help......

You convert to DNG from Camera Raw -- open the file in ACR and if you click Save Image "Digital Negative" is in the file type drop-down list.

Tony, is the "Digital Negative" in the drop down in format selection? I cannot find it. It has only PNG. Is it the same?

My workflow is like this. I use LR2 as my library for CR2, then I will go to photoshop if i need further editing then save into different folder/HD.

I should appear in the Format list in ACR -- you should see Digital Negative, jpeg, tiff and Photoshop. Make sure you are seeing the whole list (scroll up or down if need be). If you don't see it, something's amiss.

If you click the File Extensions drop-down list, .dng should also show up.

Alternatively, you can convert the files to DNG in LR2.

I'm confused Tony, does it mean I need ACR software to convert to DNG and proceed to CS4? So my workflow is LR to ACR to CS4? Or the ACR that you are talking is the CS4?

Yes I knew that I can convert to DNG from LR2 but I'm trying to separate into different folder my edited files from CR2 files which is in LR2.

If it were me and I had a reason to convert to DNG, I'd use LR since LR does all my image managing and the great majority of my editing.

However, if you want to go the Photoshop route, then ACR (Adobe Camera Raw) is the Raw converter built into CSx -- you access it through Bridge. If you are shooting Raw, you just double-click the Raw file in Bridge. For any image file (jpeg, tiff, psd, Raw, dng) you can use Camera Raw by right-clicking and choosing Open in Camera Raw. This is how you then in ACR choose Save Image and see the extension/format options.

Thanks Tony, ok I saw DNG in Bridge. But I might go with your suggestion to use LR in converting DNG because its a little bit confusing for me to open a file in Bridge and Photoshop CS4.

Tony does it mean that if i click SAVE in CS4, it will take a large space in the original folder because it is in the .psd format? also is there a difference between .dng and .DNG?

Well, you have a few approaches -- it all depends on your preferred workflow. But, yes, if you save a project in Photoshop, you will create another file of typically a fair size. The alternative is to save as a jpeg, which will flatten all layers and compress the image. A lot of us only do that for a specific output, such as the Web or email or to take to an outside printer.

But for what I call a "project file" -- one with important editing, layers, and whatnot, I would save either a tiff or a psd (Adobe). These are large files, but the only way of preserving layers. The only substantial difference is that the tiff can be converted to 8 bits per channel and compressed losslessly to make for a smaller file size. A 16 bit tiff can be in the 50MB or larger file size range.

There is no difference between .dng and .DNG. File extensions, like file names, are not case-sensitive.

One thing to be aware of here -- you don't have to convert to DNG unless you have a real reason to. CS4 will handle all the most recent camera Raw files. And, if you convert a Raw file to DNG and then save a tiff or psd edit of it, you now have three files for the one image. File management will be a real consideration!

Yes Tony those are "project files". I'm been shooting for few years in raw and only until lately of considering of converting these files into large prints. I have only started in studying photoshop, oneone and nik softwares. And yes, there are some layers so im considering of archiving it in 3 formats (with layers, flattened and web format).

In regards with if I really need to convert it in DNG, it seems like its the best file format in archiving as of these days, is these true?

cyrillo07 wrote in post #9263553
In regards with if I really need to convert it in DNG, it seems like its the best file format in archiving as of these days, is these true?

Each person has their preference in regards to DNG. Some people convert everything to DNG, archive both the cr2 and the DNG files, and then use one or the other for their working library. I personally don't convert to DNG -- I figure that if my CR2 files are ever in danger of becoming obsolet, I'll have more than enough time to do conversions. In the meantime, CR2 is supported by more applications than DNG is, so I'm happy using the CR2 files as my library format as well as my backup format.

So, each of us figures out what works best to build into our workflow. Once you do that, you get to automate those preferences and move along.

Tony, thanks a lot. Your suggestions and opinions are so valuable and helps me a lot.

Happy holidays!!!

Happy Holidays back at 'ya, and hope the new year brings all the answers to our most important questions!!

Just a note, AFAIK you can only create a DNG file file when you're in ACR or similar software. Once you get an image into Photoshop the RAW data isn't available so there's no way/need/logic to creating a DNG.